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LAKE HIGHLANDS S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6 I A D V O C AT E M A G . C O M

september 2026 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 1

Local Know-How with a Legacy Behind It The Best of Lake Highlands Real Estate is at ebby.com PENDING

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8710 Sanshire Avenue

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4 BED | 3 BATH | 2,703 SF | $1,095,000

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7318 Danashire Avenue

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Chad Redel

Shelby James

Steve Cairns

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972.740.2517 stevecairns@ebby.com

SOLD - Represented the Seller

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7735 Deer Trail Drive

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3 BED | 2.1 BATH | 1,794 SF | $680,000

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Kathleen Schiele

Steve Cairns

WrightHouse Group

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214.641.8751 kschiele@soldbyks.com lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

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4 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

september 2026 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 5

sep 26 contents LAKE HIGHLANDS ADVOCATE VOL.33 NO.9

PROFILE 10 Tracy Lynn Tucker OPENING REMARKS 8 North Texas Giving Day DINING 12 Desta Ethiopian FEATURES 14 Savvy Chic Paws 16 Dallas’s TNR troubles 18 Old Flame Candle Co. 22 Your backyard’s wild side

Savvy Chic Paws uses highquality cotton, nylon webbing and commercial-grade sewing machines to produce each product. Bandanas start at $28. Read more on page 14. Photography by Lauren Allen.

6 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

D I ST R I B U T I O N / A D V E RT I S I N G 2 1 4 . 5 6 0 . 4 2 0 4 President/Editor-in-Chief: Jehadu Abshiro jabshiro@advocatemag.com Chief Operating Officer: Alessandra Quintero 786.838.5891 / aquintero@advocatemag.com ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS Frank McClendon 214.560.4215 / fmcclendon@advocatemag.com Catherine Pate 214.560.4201 / cpate@advocatemag.com John Lynch jlynch@advocatemag.com Classified Manager: Prio Berger 214.292.0493 / pberger@advocatemag.com E D I TO R S : Alyssa High ahigh@advocatemag.com Madelyn Edwards medwards@advocatemag.com

KIDS

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Victoria Hernandez vhernandez@advocatemag.com Syra Castillo scastillo@advocatemag.com Digital Editor: Cloi Bryan cbryan@advocatemag.com Chief Creative Officer: Jynnette Neal jneal@advocatemag.com Creative Director/Photographer: Lauren Allen lallen@advocatemag.com Contributors: Patti Vinson, Carol Toler, Hailey Smith, Elizabeth Truelove, Austin Wood, Lisa Petty, Leslie Chatman Contributing photographers: Kathy Tran, Yuvie Styles,

Daily Tickets On Sale 9/1

Victoria Gomez, Amani Sodiq, Cat Iler, Jenni Cholula, Austin Gibbs, Ethan Good, Tanner Garza, Gabriel Cano, Interns: Surya Assar, Bella Portera, Leannette Neal, Shiv Bhandari, Paloma Rudnicki

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BIGTEX.COM

Advocate (c) 2024 is published monthly in print and daily online by Advocate Media - Dallas Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation based in Dallas and first published in 1991. Contents of this print magazine may not be reproduced. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for the content of all advertisements and sponsorships printed, and therefore assume responsibility for any and all claims against the Advocate. The Publisher reserves the right to accept or reject ay editorial, advertising or sponsorship material in print or online. Opinions set forth in Advocate publications are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the Publisher’s viewpoint. More than 180,000 people read Advocate publications in print each month; Advocate online publications receive more than 4 million pageviews monthly. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate print and online publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one print copy per reader. For information about supporting our non-profit mission of providing local news to neighborhood readers, please call 214-5604204 or email jabshiro@advocatemag.com

ABOUT THE COVER The gate at the front entrance of the Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Photography by Lauren Allen.

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OPENING REMARKS

By ALI QUINTERO

Dear neighbor, For 35 years, the Advocate has been part of Dallas neighborhoods — telling the stories that matter most to the people who live here. And for much of that time, people like you have made that work possible. This year for Nor th Texas Giving Day, we’re fo cusing our Giving Day campaign on something very tangible: getting the Advocate into more streets in your neighborhood. We want to make sure that more neighbors have the opportunity to find the Advocate on their street, at a local rack or at a local business. It costs ap proximately $15,000 every month to distribute the Advocate throughout our communities. O u r No r t h Te x a s G i v i n g D ay g o a l i s $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 . Reaching that goal will help cover approximately one month of neighborhood distribution and about three months of rack deliver y. That’s more than a number. It’s more opportunities for a neighbor to pick up the Advocate. More people discovering a s tor y about their community. More local businesses, schools, leaders and residents being seen and heard. Will you consider making a North Texas Giving Day gift to help us reach our $20,000 goal? Text ADVOCATE to 844-844-6844 to make a donation today. Thank you for believing in local journalism and for being part of the Advocate’s story. After 35 years, we couldn’t be more grateful for the community that has helped us get here — and we hope you’ ll help us bring the Advocate to even more neighbors in the years ahead.

give local HELP US GET RELEVANT NEWS IN THE HANDS OF MORE OF OUR NEIGHBORS.

Early Giving Through Sept. 17

Text ADVOCATE to 844-844-6844 or donate online to Advocate Media

With gratitude,

Ali Quintero, Chief Operating Officer

9.17.26

8 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

July MLS home sale statistics*, plus annual totals

REAL ESTATE REPORT

a r e a h o m e va l u e s

SUB SOLD SOLD AREA JULY ‘25 JULY ‘26 AREASOLD JULY 25SOLD JULY 26 1 8 4 2 8 5 3 2 2 4 15 11 5 3 4 6 4 2 7 6 10 8 0 2 9 4 6 10 9 5 11 0 2 12 0 5 13 6 8 14 7 3 15 7 5 TOTAL 79 74 AVG -

Sponsored by:

Avg Days on Avg. Sales Avg. Sales Market YTD Price YTD ‘26 Price YTD ‘25 AVG DOM YTDAVG SALES PRICE YTD 26AVG SALES PRICE YTD 25 47 $540,241 $497,639 53 $605,618 $384,032 49 $428,052 $409,961 101 $324,963 $308,022 67 $458,457 $467,551 36 $723,500 $766,263 55 $728,104 $829,306 13 $840,406 $1,110,225 32 $705,806 $685,570 68 $265,058 $320,069 40 $931,167 $925,818 15 $899,318 $780,833 43 $864,021 $830,856 34 $812,813 $818,143 31 $781,129 $660,577 684 $9,908,653 $9,794,865 46 $660,577 $652,991

MIKE CASSELL MIKECASSELL@EBBY.COM 214.507.9629 *Statistics are com piled by Ebby Halliday Realtors, and are de rived from Dallas Mul ti ple List ing Service (MLS). Numbers are believed to be re li able, but are not guar an teed. The Ad vo cate and Ebby Halliday Realtors are not re spon si ble for the ac cu ra cy of the in for ma tion.

september 2026 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 9

p ro f i l e TLT Jewelry uses sheet silver and wire to build bezels for each piece.

CRAFTING JEWELRY, CULTIVATING WELLNESS Cutline + Photography by sentence. No photo credit if byline.

Tracy Lynn Tucker’s tale of two callings Story by BELLA PORTERA | Photography by LAUREN ALLEN

10 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

racy Lynn Tucker is no stranger to the world of holis tic healing. From a very young age, she was fascinated by the power of gemstones, crystals, herbal formulas and Chinese medicine. She was determined to turn her passion into a career. Or two. Tucker first got into jewelry-making while taking silversmithing and jewelry classes at Lake Highlands High School. After learning the basics, she picked up an apprenticeship with a silversmith at the old Olla Podrida artisan mall shortly after graduating in 1985. As she honed her craft, she went on the road and began selling beadwork and other pieces at Renaissance fairs across the country, including in Texas, New York, Colorado, Kansas and Ohio. Tucker then decided to take up another job as a massage therapist. In 1993, she graduated from the Austin School of Massage Therapy and worked on and off for 16 years out of an Austin acupuncture office owned by Dee Ann Newbold. Here, Newbold performed acupuncture on Tucker, the first treatment that ever improved her migraines. Inspired to give her patients a similar sense of relief and healing, Tucker began acupuncture school at AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine in 2009. After five years of relentless work, including rigorous training sessions, countless hours of classroom instruction a n d h a n d s - o n p ra c t i c e , s h e g ra d u at e d w i t h h e r Ma s t e r o f A c u p u n c t u re

and Oriental Medicine, soon earning her Texas ac upuncture license and national certification. Tucker then moved back to Lake Highlands with her school friend Bryan Ellett, where she joined his acupuncture clinic, Lake Highlands Acupuncture. As she settled down to set up her studio for TLTJewelry, she was suddenly forced into online sales when COVID -19 hit. Though seemingly an inconvenience, this allowed Tucker to build her brand over time, selling more and more products to friends like Hannah from the biannual art fair at Orr Reed Architectural Co., an architectural salvage company. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR BRAND? My brand is so much like the jewelry I wanted to have when I was a little kid. It reminds me of the ’70s and early ’80s. One of the ver y first items I star ted making were mood rings, which I loved as a kid. I make a lot of sea glass rings, hoop earrings and big elaborate necklaces. My friend Rick Dodson in the Hill Country is a glass artist and makes little glass hearts for me. I set those in silver with cr ystals and hand-make the chains. They are my higher-end art pieces, all one- of-a-kind. W H I C H E L E M E N TS M AT T E R MOST TO YOU FOR FUTURE PIECES? I recently got a rolling mill from my boyfriend, so I want to start using more reclaimed silver, melting other pieces down to make something new. I’ve made a few pieces with antique glass buttons and broken ceramic pieces. I like taking unusual materials and setting them in jewelry pieces as if they were gemstones. I can also mix stones, which is analogous to making an herbal formula. I want to use a Chinese medical approach more often to pick the s tones that pair toge ther, using cr ys tal combinations to calm people’s ner ves.

take a stone, build the bezel fence around it, solder that to a piece of silver for its back and cut it out with a saw. I can make a band to put it on from either sheet silver or wide wire. When I make chains, ever y single link is c ut and soldered by me. I really like the tedium when soldering tiny things.

AT ACUPUNCTURE SCHOOL, DID YOU SHARE SIMILAR MOTIVATIONS FO R AT T E N DA N C E W I T H YO U R CLASSMATES? Everybody I knew at school was like, “I got hurt in a car wreck, and the only thing that helped was acupuncture.” It was this running story. Almost all of us attended because something had happened to us and acupuncture was the only thing that helped us sort it out. It’s really amazing medicine. DESCRIBE YOUR ACUPUNCTURE PRACTICE. The first visit involves me asking a whole bunch of questions and looking at the patient in general. In Chinese medicine, it’s all about the senses, like how the patient sounds, breathes, looks and moves. I choose needle points based on that consultation. When I perform acupuncture, I generally let people rest with the needles for 20 to 28 minutes before taking them out. I can also lean back on my massage therapy training if necessary. I do cupping, herbal treatments, supplements and other modalities, too. A lot of people just need more minerals in their lives. Some people just need more vegetables. Chinese medicine is very big on dietary therapy and considering how the foods you eat affect your body. HOW IS ACUPUNCTURE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER MEDICINAL APPROACHES? It’s more than just acupuncture; it’s a modality of Chinese medicine. What I like about Chinese medicine is that it looks at the entire person. Instead of just treating headaches, I look at the person sitting in front of me and address the imbalance that is making them have a headache. I’m looking at the whole person, how they respond and where they are emotionally. My teachers always said to treat what you see, so I’m always looking at the patient.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING THE PROCESS? I can get lost. I just love having these flat materials and turning them into 3D items that feel valuable, shiny and precious. I can turn off the rest of the world. I like how the wire and flat metal turns into something that looks rich and elegant, from almost nothing to something big. The end product is so much more than the sum of its parts. When I’m selling, I really love when people light up and connect with my pieces. Especially when selling to women my age, I’ll trigger a happy WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING childhood memory and emotional response. ABOUT ACUPUNCTURE? When I see people get better, it feels like WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS LIKE? DO YOU HAVE ANY EVENTS COM- solving a puzzle that allows their body to heal. Ever ything is fully fabricated by me; I’m ING UP FOR YOUR BUSINESS? It’s great to see the progress they have made. not buying components. I use sheet silver I sell at the Orr Reed artisans markets in or wire and build the bezels from sheet Dallas. The next one will be on Nov. 28 This interview has been edited for clarity silver. If I were making a ring, I would from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s a really fun fair! and brevity.

september 2026 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 11

fofo od od

FO O D MEANS FA M I LY 12 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

Desta Ethiopian promotes community, inclusivity & tradition Story by BELLA PORTERA Photography by KELSEY SHOEMAKER

AS CUSTOMERS WALK THROUGH THE DOORS O F D ESTA E T H I O P I A N , the smell of crisp sambusas, spicy tegabino shiro and seasoned banatu guides them towards a comfortable seat, eager to taste the intricate tapestry of flavors that fill the air. Owner Mahdere “Maddie” Gebreselassie welcomes guests of all backgrounds, dedicating herself to creating an intimate, enjoyable dining experience. “I want customers to feel like it’s their own restaurant. I don’t want them to come here and feel like strangers. The door is open for anyone,” Gebreselassie says. “We make them feel comfortable. Whatever the customer needs, we will be there for them.” Gebreselassie grew up in Ethiopia and played soccer for most of her life. She prides herself on Desta’s athletic enthusiasm, connecting with customers over her love of the game as she serves them. “I’m a community woman. The service industry is everything for me,” Gebreselassie says. “Serving people makes me so much happier. A lot of people are here to watch sports, so it’s very welcoming.” Gebreselassie first took over the restaurant after the death of the original owners, Yayehyirad “Yared” Lemma and Yenenesh “Yenni” Desta. She moved across the country to help run it. “The first owners were friends of mine,” Gebreselassie says. “I used to live in Washington, D.C., and had a restaurant there, but when they passed away, their sister told me that if I wanted to come back to Texas, we could run the restaurant. I decided to go.” The restaurant is owned and operated by friends and family of Yared and Yenni. Honoring their mission, Desta uses natural Ethiopian ingredients and traditional cooking methods to maximize cultural authenticity. “Our ingredients are homemade, organic and all come from Ethiopia. We don’t buy ingredients here, except meat,” Gebreselassie says. Most dishes are served family-style and food is traditionally eaten with your hands. Many of their signature dishes reflect

Above: Top platter includes beef wot, alicha kik, shiro and injera, the staple sour flatbread made with teff grain. Bottom dish is doro wut, a spicy stew with chicken and boiled eggs, served alongside ayib, a crumble cheese, used to balance spicy stews.

this standard, including the veggie combo with tegabino shiro (a split yellow pea stew), miser (a spicy split red lentils) and atkilt alicha (cabbage with carrots and onions) ($17.99). The weekend special, mahberawi plater, features kitfo (rare minced meat), lega tibs ( goat, lamb or beef stew), gomen (greens) and vegetables ($59.99). “ We have food for meat-lovers, vegans and vegetarians,” Gebreselassie says. “Ethiopian food is special. It has different tastes. You can’t find it just anywhere.” Desta’s drink selection includes Ethiopian spiced hot tea ($2.99), ginger tea ($4.99) and a macchiato ($4.99) giving guests the chance to taste real Ethiopian coffee and chai. “Our coffee is born in Ethiopia,” Gebreselassie says. “Coffee for us is everything. With it, we can socialize and make people comfortable.” As Gebreselassie continues managing the restaurant, she hopes to expand the Desta family and keep building connections with customers already in the community. “We focus on quality food, customer service and ambience,” Gebreselassie says. “We have a lot of returning customers and a lot of good feedback. They trust us.” Desta Ethiopian, 12101 Greenville Ave., 214.575.9004

september 2026 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 13

A little style for every pup Savvy Chic Paws brings a tailor’s touch to pet accessories Story by SYRA CASTILLO | Photography by JESSICA TURNER

CINDY NGUYEN GREW UP in her father’s and ties at $16. The products come in bright, products grown, made or manufactured in Texas. tailor shop, where she learned to sew as a child. Years later, after her work making masks and gowns for health care workers began to wind down following the COVID -19 pandemic, she found herself looking for what could come next. Founded in 2021 by longtime work friends Nguyen, the company’s COO, and CEO Gerald Grimes, Savvy Chic Paws began with a conversation about future projects. Nguyen remembers Grimes asking whether she would be interested in working with him on something new. But with a vacation to Germany already planned, Nguyen decided to take the trip and figure out her next move later. When she returned to the United States, a friend asked her to sew a custom leash for her dog. Nguyen agreed, drawing on the skills she had developed over decades. After seeing the finished product, Grimes saw an opportunity. “My boss was like, ‘Hey, let’s produce that.’ And he’s not a dog lover. He’s never had dogs,” Nguyen says. That one leash eventually became Savvy Chic Paws, a company built around Nguyen’s tailor-inspired approach to pet accessories. Bow ties start at $16, regular collars at $26 and leashes at $24. Bow tie collars start at $40, while slip-over collar bandanas begin at $28

distinctive patterns that have become part of the company’s recognizable style. For Nguyen, the transition into the pet-accessory industry was somewhat unexpected. She jokes that her closest connection to dogs is her daughter’s dog, whom she affectionately calls her “granddog.” But sewing was familiar territory. She remembers putting on her first button when she was 8 and beginning to sew at 10. With seven siblings, Nguyen says there were no babysitters to watch them after school, so she and her siblings would spend time with their father and help with his work. “I mean, where were child labor laws back then?” Nguyen jokes. That early experience shaped the way Nguyen approaches Savvy Chic Paws today. She pays close attention to the details of each product, from the fabrics and hardware to the stitching and finishing. The company sources materials from suppliers across the United States, while its products are manufactured in Dallas. “I’m very meticulous,” Nguyen says. “I like high-quality products, so that’s what I produce.” Savvy Chic Paws began building its customer base through appearances at the State Fair of Texas and Go Texan events, which showcase

14 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

One of those appearances led to an unexpected opportunity with Brookshire’s. Nguyen remembers a representative from the grocery chain stopping by the company’s booth at the State Fair. “They loved our stuff, and they loved how I displayed everything,” she says. “That’s how I got into Brookshire’s.” Savvy Chic Paws also works with companies that place larger orders for seasonal products, promotional items and gift baskets. As the company grows, Nguyen says the goal is not simply to put more products on store shelves. She wants Savvy Chic Paws to become known for larger-scale collaborations and custom orders. “We don’t want to have somebody just come to the store or buy online,” Nguyen says. Even the company’s name reflects the partnership behind it. “Savvy” comes from Grimes’ business-minded approach, while “chic” reflects Nguyen’s background in fashion and tailoring. Together, those two perspectives have shaped a company that started with one custom leash and has grown into a Dallas-based pet-accessory business — one still grounded in the same attention to craftsmanship Nguyen learned in her father’s tailor shop.

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Story by MADELYN EDWARDS

LOSS OF FUNDING. A deficit in the ability to provide shelter animal surgeries. A full-time veterinarian position that remained unfilled. A short-handed staff accruing overtime from working hard in stressful jobs. About 2,600 animals in foster homes and 600 in the shelter. All this was discussed in a well-attended public meeting last June in Lakewood with Dallas Animal Services (DAS) answering questions, mainly from those practicing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Frustrated neighbors talked about being overrun by outdoor cats, trouble accessing TNR resources and feeling like they weren’t being listened to. DAS officials explained they are doing the best they can while managing their resources. Rock meets hard place. “I need a place to go,” East Dallas neighbor Jennifer Woulfe said during the meeting. “I love (Texas Coalition for Animal Protection). I do most of my stuff at TCAP, but there have been times that I have to get there at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. I have to wait, and I can’t easily do that. So, for me, I need a place that’s an easier option to go. I’m willing to do it. You have free help right here, free. I’m doing it for free because I know it’s important for the cats. I know it’s important to my community.” Any animal reproducing quickly and unfettered leads to a bigger population with higher risks for “disease transmission, parasites, sanitation concerns, nuisance behaviors,” says Amanda Earl, DAS assistant director of operations. “One of the primary benefits of TNR is that

participating cats are vaccinated against rabies,” Earl says. “They’ve been sterilized. They’ve at least been looked at by a veterinarian. They have an ear tip so that we can identify those animals. It does help stabilize colony size. It does help reduce nuisance behaviors, but there are only so many resources.” Almost 8,500 service requests regarding stray cats were placed between August 2023 and September 2025 throughout Dallas but especially in East Dallas, Oak Cliff and southern Dallas, according to a City report. TCAP doesn’t have an affordable spay and neuter clinic in Dallas. The closest locations for our neighbors are in Garland, Allen or Arlington. To participate in TCAP’s Feral Fix Program for specifically wild and unsocialized cats, it is recommended to arrive “well before 8 a.m.” to secure one or more of the 12 slots available (limited to four cats per person or organization). If you miss your chance, you have to try again or schedule an appointment and pay $20, according to TCAP’s website. And not all of these clinics perform feral cat surgeries every weekday. At Spay Neuter Network on South Buckner Boulevard, cats are accepted first-come, firstserved on open surgery days until capacity is reached (limit two cats per person). This service costs the same as for owned cats, unless a Dallas resident has a service request number, in which case the spay or neuter is free and funded by DAS, according to the clinic’s website. TNRers can get a service request number through 311, but some said at the Lakewood meeting that the process to receive that is inefficient. (Woulfe

16 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

says TCAP also offers free services for Dallas residents with a service request number.) And no, the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) of Texas, headquartered in Dallas, is currently not accepting trap, neuter, return surgeries, according to its website. Woulfe says SPCA had a TNR program but stopped after the pandemic. Some advocates think Dallas Animal Ser vices should ac tively par ticipate in TNR. The department calls the practice “the only proven, humane method to control outdoor cat populations” on the City’s website but c urrently isn’ t proposing a City-run TNR program. “We would need the staff support. We would need the funding support. We would need community support. We’d need those partnerships,” Earl says. “We’re constantly leaning on our partners and establishing those partnerships as we can to supplement the resources that we have right now, but the community has to participate.” Put plainly, the department doesn’t have the medical staff to manage those surgeries, she says. Recruiting veterinarians tends to be a challenge since there are less than 40 American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited colleges in the U.S. On top of that, shelter medicine tends to be a niche study, and filling those roles is difficult. Not every vet can manage 30 or more surgeries in a day. Case in point, Dallas Animal Services has had a full-time veterinarian vacancy since last fall. “We can’t compete with private enterprise,” Earl says. “We can’t pay off their student tuition costs that they’ve incurred. We can’t offer them the same salaries and benefits as others because we are a municipal organization.” As of writing this, the department has veterinarians for treatment (one full-time and one temporary part-time), telehealth, and forensics, plus two surgeons, one fulltime and one temporary part-time. Compared to the almost 29,000 animals DAS takes in per year, this is a small team, Earl says. They have specialized roles that include providing intake exams, emergency care, illness and injury treatment, surgeries, and medical support for fosters. Dallas Animal Services also partners with organizations to expand their staff ’s bandwidth just to care for shelter animals, but that’s still not enough to do TNR surgeries. “It’s just not a reality,” Earl says. “It’s not through lack of desire.” In our neighborhoods, feline concerns

Photo courtesy of Dallas Animal Services.

WHO CARES FOR THESE CATS?

Not enough active hands to help community cats

Summer is over, School is back,

are handled by the community engagement team. Among other tasks, these staffers respond to cat-related calls and evaluate situations, point locals toward resources and aim to educate the public. The City used to have a specific program for unowned cats, but that was discontinued because of budget cuts, Earl says. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Community Cat Pilot TNR Program included the so-called Team Tabby, in which 1,451 cats were fixed, preventing thousands of kitten births and newborn intakes, according to a City report. TNRers interviewed by the Advocate are mostly sympathetic to DAS’s position and would like to see the department get the resources needed. “Apparently, we need to start attending city council meetings and being a voice for DAS and for these animals because a lot of people aren’t speaking up,” Woulfe says. Dallas County’s veterinary care accessibility score is 66 out of 100, and, while not the worst, well below that of neighboring counties. DAS is working to help identify where those deserts are and rebuilding infrastructure to better manage animals in the shelter and outside of it, Earl says. Far Northeast Dallas neighbor Mary German started TNRing on her street before connecting with other neighborhoods, including Oak Cliff, Arlington and Grand Prairie. She manages colonies in Dallas, Garland and Mesquite, feeding the cats even on special occasions and despite challenges brought on by apartment complex rules. She noticed Hispanic communities tended to require the most help. “There’s a lot of need, not only with the trapping but also getting medical,” German says. Earl says Dallas leadership has been supportive, but even in a perfect world, she imagines that everyone would step up for DAS, including businesses and neighbors. “We can’t do it by ourselves,” she says. “We can keep spinning our wheels, we can keep doing sterilizations, we can keep taking the owners’ surrenders, but our most important thing should be to help keep animals in their homes and help provide those resources. But we can’t be the one that’s providing all the resources. We’re not that big. Our community is huge.” On that point, Earl’s message to those practicing TNR is “keep doing what you do. If we can help, we will.”

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KEEPING THE OLD FLAME ALIVE From Magnolia Farms and Anthropologie, a Lake Highlands candlemaker gives antiques a second life Story by SYRA CASTILLO

aclyn King remembers standing in line at estate sales at 6 a.m. with her grandmother Ima, waiting as long as three hours for the doors to open. Her grandmother, an antique dealer who owned a business called Two Dumb Dames, “dragged” King to nearly every estate sale she could find. “It was torture back in the day when I was a kid standing in line,” King says. “But I’ve always loved antiques.” Years later, after a career in advertising as a graphic designer and art director, King found the demands of a corporate 9-to-5 no longer fit the life she wanted as a new mother. So, she decided to step back and start something of her own. She started taking on interior design projects here and there. And the occasional graphic design projects. As a thank-you gift for clients, King assembled packages with a candle and a plant tucked inside a vintage container. But every store-bought candle she found came wrapped in packaging she felt lacked personality — she wanted something more than a 4-inch tall glass container with simple labeling. Then one day, while looking for a candle, inspiration struck. “I had a drawer of probably 50 candles, half-burned,” she says. “I made a connection between the vintage piece and the candle.” King calls it her “craft-tacular ” moment. She realized she could combine the two things she loved most: hunting for vintage treasures and making beautiful candles. Drawing on those childhood mo r ni ngs spe n t s e arch in g e s t at e s a l e s , Ki n g f o u n d e d O l d F l a m e Candle Co., a business built around

giving one-of-a-kind vintage finds a second life. Today, each candle is poured into curated antique vessels, ensuring that no two pieces are exactly alike. King first considered selling her candles on Etsy after King’s friend Kat suggested the idea. After taking a few days to weigh the logistics, she noticed that Chip and Joanna Gaines of Magnolia Farms, were accepting vendor applications for Magnolia’s Spring at the Silos event in March 2020. On a whim, she applied. “I was thinking, ‘They won’t accept me. I’m sure they’re full,’ but I applied, and they were like, ‘Yeah, absolutely come do the show,’ and it was going to be a good way to launch an idea I had,” King says. Only after she was accepted did King realize the scale of the event. She was expected to build a pop-up store that included shelves, a cash wrap and enough inventory for an event that draws roughly 40,000 visitors. “We showed up, and this was in March of 2020, and I remember the drive there,” she says. “I was talking to my husband, and we had just heard about this thing called COVID, and I was like, ‘(COVID) is going to go nowhere.’” It did. The next morning, after King spent hours setting up and meticulously unwrapping 200 tubs of antique items, Magnolia Farms canceled the event. “I was like, ‘Now what?’ We just invested all this money and made all these candles, and I didn’t know what to do with any of the stuff,” she says. Then, Joanna Gaines reached out with an offer to feature Old Flame Candle Co. on Instagram. Using her background in graphic de-

18 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

sign, King created an Instagram page, an online store and her brand’s logo. Once online, she bought a lightbox and photographed every product and stayed up for four days straight preparing for the online launch. “(Joanna) started running stories, and we started selling, selling and selling,” King says. Currently, she runs Old Flame Candle Co. from a studio above the garage of her Lake Highlands home. With more than 20,000 followers on Instagram, it’s no surprise that King has sold over 8,000 candles since 2020. The way to order is simple. Customers can email Old Flame Candle Co. to request a wax refill form, and then King’s team will create a custom listing based on the amount of wax needed to fill their item. King charges $1.95 per ounce to fill a piece. Once a customer has received their custom listing, they will pack and mail their item to King. If the customers would like to drop off their item to King, they can do so by leaving it on King’s front porch and a few days later return to pick up their custom candle. For customers who would rather shop online, patrons can pick from brass, glass, stoneware, copper or ceramic options and then choose their scent of choice. Prices for pre-filled antiques range from $32-$6,248. “(Old Flame Candle Co.) falls in the luxury candle category because we’re not drop-shipping vessels from China,” King says. “We are investing in an antique.” Old Flame Candle Co. has four yearround scents, like grapefruit tea and vetiver; tea, tobacco and tonka bean;

King uses Forest Stewardship Council wooden wicks in each of her candles. Photos courtesy of Jaclyn King. DAVID R. DAVIDSON

2026-2027 SERIES

cashmere and bergamot; and smoky birch and tobacco. King has a selection of fall/winter scents, like her mulled cider, clove-studded orange, freshly cut spruce tree, and peppermint and vanilla bean scents. She also offers unscented wax. And King sells her candles to Anthropologie and has been doing so since 2023. When asked if the possibility of opening a storefront was in the future, King says that is something she could envision. “As much as I love having my studio, I think having a storefront would be really fun,” she says. “Like a tiny one, where you could just pop in, drop off your candles and pick them up at the end of the day.” Gabriella Ruiz, Old Flame Candle Co.’s dedicated candle pourer, is King’s 26-year-old right-hand employee. “Working with a close friend makes the environment supportive and full of positive energy,” Ruiz says. “I have gained so much valuable experience learning the art of candle making.” King further solidifies her business’ uniqueness by giving each candle a girl’s name. “I give them girl names because antiques, to me, have such a history and a story,” she says. “I always envision where they’ve been, whose hands have touched them, what they’ve seen, and I love to be able to not only breathe new life into it, but keep it from getting thrown away or just walked by.”

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YO UR BA CK YA RD ’ S WI LD SIDE Our neighbors are learning to appreciate the wildlife living just beyond their back doors Story by SYRA CASTILLO

HOW DID YOU FIRST REALIZE YOU HAD WILDLIFE VISITING YOUR BACKYARD? HAMLIN: I knew that we had coyotes and other animals, but I had never really seen them firsthand. And then one day, my husband was in the backyard, and we saw this old opossum come through, and he was struggling. We had a water bowl out there, and the opossum actually fell and tipped into the water bowl. I panicked, and my husband’s like, “Oh my gosh, go get him!” and then we took him to North Texas Wildlife Center. STEARNS: I started noticing it because I have a child now, and so I’m taking more interest in what’s around her when she’s outside. We’re kind of encroaching on wildlife, and with all the development, wildlife is getting pushed into residential areas. HAVE YOU HAD ANY MEMORABLE OR SURPRISING ENCOUNTERS WITH THE ANIMALS? HAMLIN: I was driving home about two months ago, and I was just thinking, “Man, I wish I would see like a big bird. I wish I would see an owl or something,” and I saw a big, beautiful barn owl fly right in front of my car and enter my neighborhood. And it was just so majestic. STEARNS: A memorable one for me is when these mallard ducks just kept visiting our house. I think partly because we have a pool. One day, I

woke up, and I saw a mama mallard duck with like six or seven little baby ducklings in the pool, and we have one of those Critter Savers, and she and the little ducks got right out on it and got out from the pool onto our yard. It was just so cute, and I just remember having this moment — I was pregnant at the time — where I was like, “You know what, you can stay in my yard, mama.” WITH THE NEW ANIMALS IN YOUR BACKYARDS, HAVE YOU GIVEN THEM NICKNAMES? HAMLIN: We have a opossum that I first saw outside of our garage, and I named him Garage Possum, which then evolved to G Poss. And then we have a dove — I just call her Lovey Dovey — she’s missing some tail feathers. The names are very unoriginal. Like Rocket the Raccoon. Every raccoon is named Rocket by someone at some point. STEARNS: Sadly, we do not name our animals because we’re still in the process of learning the identification. So, we’re really just in the identification phase rather than the naming phase. But I aspire to get where Rebecca is. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT CARING FOR WILDLIFE THROUGH YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES? HAMLIN: I feel like if people spend more time learning about the ecological value of these animals, they would have a different perspective of them. For example, people do not like vultures. Vultures have been historically seen as a bad omen. But in reality, vultures are vital contributors to our ecosystem. They’re going to clean up roadkill and dead animals in your neighborhood, which stops the spread of disease. STEARNS: For me, I would say just caring for them means giving them their space and teaching my child to observe from a distance and also just to appreciate the ability to observe

22 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2026

their systems. On a granular level, I’m a dog owner, so keeping my dogs away from bunnies. DO YOU THINK YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE COMFORTABLE WITH WILDLIFE IN THE AREA OR DO YOU SEE SOME CONCERNS? HAMLIN: It blows my mind that people live at White Rock Lake and put poison out, or trap and relocate wildlife. At North Texas Wildlife Center, we see so many animals from Lake Highlands that have been poisoned. And when we look at a map, it’s almost always along White Rock Trail, which has a water source, or White Rock Lake, and so people make these decisions to live by a lake because it’s beautiful, and they fail to realize that you are going to be living with wildlife, and you will have to learn to coexist with those animals. STEARNS: I think most people in Merriam Park North are OK with the wildlife. I love the free rodent control that our resident bobcat provides. But I will say that there’s one exception to that — the coyotes. I think for me, it’s trying to figure out how I feel about coyotes because I understand that they have a place in the ecosystem, but it’s hard when there’s no natural predator. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE MORE DALLAS-AREA RESIDENTS TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE WILDLIFE LIVING AROUND THEM? HAMLIN: In general, I would encourage people to look into why those animals are here and look into the history of them. I encourage people to maybe just slow down and see the animals a little bit more. Just give them a place. You don’t have to love them. You don’t have to go out of your way. You don’t have to feed them. But if you see them, just let them be.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Illustrations from Getty Images by Natural_Warp.

YOUR BACKYARD MIGHT HAVE MORE NEIGHBORS THAN YOU THINK. Across Lake Highlands, our residents are sharing their yards with some unexpected visitors — bobcats, coyotes, owls, opossums, raccoons, bunnies and even the occasional family of ducklings. For Rebecca Hamlin, president of the North Texas Wildlife Center and attorney Sarah-Michelle Stearns, these backyard visitors have become more than just a surprise sighting. They’ve sparked a deeper appreciation for the wildlife living alongside their families.

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